Unforgivable
by dooski
Summary: He thought he was the one to love her completely, his beautiful, dark angel. But it never occurred to him just how dark she was that there was a part to her past that was unforgivable. [challenge fic]
1. Chapter 1: Nothing's As It Seems

**a/n:** This is a challenge response to **beldoc** from nunswithpens. I don't want to give it away! So I'll post the actual challenge at the end of the chap, if you don't mind. (now don't go cheating and read it first! haha)

It's already complete! (I know, a first for me!) So I can tell you with absolute certainty that it's going to be 2 chapters long, plus an epilogue (yes, an epilogue!)

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I don't own dark angel or the characters.  
**Setting**: After Hello Goodbye; with blips from Love Among the Runes  
**Genre**: angst (for all three characters, cuz there's so much to go around!)  
**Pairing: **MA friendly (well, the challenge calls for it!)  
**Rating: **T 

**Chapter 1: Nothing's As It Seems**

Thou Shalt Not Kill.

He didn't need to be a man of faith to understand or follow it. In fact, he'd only been to a few services in his entire life. Whenever those few Cale weddings occurred that he was obliged to make an appearance at; a few childhood memories of attending service on various holidays when his mother still held a strong place in his life.

To be fair, he didn't strictly adhere to any particular code of ethics. And he had certainly broken more than his share of rules.

But there was one law system that even he couldn't deny. In fact, justice was a word that meant a lot to him, too much, really. Before her, it was his life.

And after.

And apparently, it was all that he now had left. Again, he was left standing alone. It seemed that doing the right thing these days really was a long, cold, and barren road.

Secrets are never a good thing. He'd discovered that the hard way, more than once.

But he'd never met another person so good at it. Deceit was like an art form for her.

He found himself wondering just how much of it was all nothing but a big lie to her. He'd seen her lie right through that gorgeous 100 mega-watt smile of hers before. And to think, he'd been impressed.

The more he thought of it, it was disgusting.

But he hadn't known at the time.

There's a lot of things you don't know about Max.

Logan's eyes burned at the words. The smart-ass whose mouth had smirked upon letting him know just how strongly he'd 'underestimated' her. Clearly, the idiot thought the foul deed would somehow strike Logan, inspire him even, with just how strong Max really was.

But that was the problem. Logan had tried, god he'd tried. He went at it from every possible angle. He'd analyzed every single aspect of the damned ordeal.

But after hours of calculations and rehashing the whole scenario, he'd come up with the worst possible conclusion. He didn't understand. He couldn't understand.

Because no matter how many times he tried to fight it in his mind and in his heart, he just knew that it was wrong.

It was so wrong, it made him sick.

His mouth felt dry as he found himself nearly choking, puking on the twisted truth to his thoughts, his memories, his knowledge. All of her, and who- _what _she really was.

It was drowning him, all of it. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.

The feeling of helplessness was one that he'd been working to overcome for a long time. It was practically his existence. And he'd always succeeded. At least, that's what he liked to think.

They said he'd never walk again. And he'd proved them wrong. They'd told him he would never amount to anything. And he'd worked to make a difference, even if no one knew where the credit was due.

She'd been taken away from him once before. It was a time so dark he found himself almost succumbing to it again just thinking about it. Until he forced himself to be strong and aware of the truth. It was in the past.

And besides, he'd been wrong.

Betrayal was not a new feeling to the man. He'd felt the pain of being stabbed in the back, cutting straight through to the heart, before. And he'd been wrong before, too, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

But it was different this time. He couldn't believe how blind he'd been. She wasn't as human as he'd once believed.

His beautiful Max.

Tears flowed freely at the innocence that he now knew was never really there to begin with.

His blue eyes fell to the pieces of the shattered glass that he'd been holding together in his hand only moments before. He remembered again, the rage he'd felt in that moment as his eyes poured into the broken pieces that were still laying on the cold floor.

He could stand, for the moment. But who knew how long it would be until his legs would again reject the strange blood from his last transfusion.

But as his sights fell to the broken pieces, he found his legs losing their will anyway. The helplessness completely took over and he slumped to the floor despite himself, this time because of a near emotional breakdown instead of a failure in his nerve connections.

Logan watched as the light reflected, dancing from the tears falling onto the tiny glass pieces, mirrored back into his blue eyes that had never felt so empty.

**18 hours earlier**------------------------------------------------

Logan was still somewhat woozy as his body tried to fight the waking hours. It took him a moment to identify the pounding at the core of his mind as more than just a bad headache. No, this was a hangover.

The now familiar feeling brought a dry, sarcastic grin to his face as he dared to smile at his circumstance.

That's right. They weren't the only ones capable of dry sarcasm. Logan recalled that pleasant Manticore attitude that they'd all been blessed with, their dry wit and sarcasm.

He let out a laugh in his tipsy state, recalling earlier times when putting up with their snarky mouths was the worst of his problems.

Well, it _was _laughable, anyway, the whole thing. He was the biggest schmuck of them all.

_Schmuck?_ The word brought a new thought into his hazy mind. Maybe he was still drunk, after all.

Though he enjoyed a few beers every now and then, he wasn't one to willingly bring on the helpless feeling that one gets when they're completely intoxicated. But let's just say he wasn't exactly feeling himself when he'd taken to the bottle the night before.

How could anyone, really? Watching his world come crashing down had a way of making him feel like a stranger to his life. Or at least wishing he was, once he'd discovered the truth.

There was that moment of disbelief, when he was blissfully ignorant of its truth and repercussions; when he held onto that illogical hope that he just hadn't seen clearly, that he'd gotten it all wrong, missed some vital detail to explain it all away.

But when she'd answered… well… there was really no denying it anymore.

As Logan's eyes fell to the empty glass on the table, he recalled bringing it to his lips countless times, until he'd successfully drunken away his ability to count any more.

And he remembered that somewhere in the night after this point, Max had finally shown up.

Not to see him, of course. For as he'd soon discovered, she was completely over him. No, she just wanted to take a look at his little diagrams.

--------------------------------------------------------

"I told Logan you and me were together."

Alec heard the words again in his mind, as though they were echoing. It had taken a minute for him to process it. As he stared into her brown eyes, he was struck with how serious they were. She was…

She wasn't kidding.

"What?" he heard himself ask out loud. He certainly hadn't thought before blurting it at her. How could he? She'd just hit him with some news that had successfully interrupted his ability to think straight for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I had to."

Alec couldn't help making a quiet scoff in his disbelief. He swallowed, taking it all in as she went on.

"This virus thing isn't going anywhere and I can't afford anymore accidents."

Alec didn't appreciate being unwillingly, or unknowingly, for that matter, thrust right into the middle of their 'not-like-that' relationship. She could have told the guy _anything._ But she'd taken the easiest way out, which as usual, left Alec up to take the fall.

As far as Alec was concerned, Max was a free woman. She was welcome to play whatever mind games she wanted with the guy. But he wasn't going to play any part in the twisted lie.

Alec grabbed the bag anyway, despite her protests. "Max, whatever's goin' on with you and Logan's got nothin' to do with me, okay?" He flashed her a sympathetic, but serious look as he continued, "I'm not gonna be the bad guy."

And with that, he slung the bag over his shoulder and went on his way to see the man who more than likely hated him right about now.

---------------------------------------------------------- 

Alec could feel the air of tension before he broke it, or rather, increased it, by entering the room.

"Hey," he greeted the older man, not really sure how else to break the ice.

"Hey," Logan returned only out of the rituals of conversation.

Alec noted the metallic exoskeleton that was strapped around Logan's legs. "Thought you didn't need that thing to walk anymore," Alec commented casually.

"I don't," came the terse reply.

"So, is it more like an enhancer then?" Alec asked, trying to make conversation.

"Somethin' like that," Logan answered, still not bothering to look at Alec as he made the reply. "What are you doin' here?" Logan asked suddenly, wanting to get to the point.

Chatting with Alec was something that Logan wasn't interested in on a normal day. And he was even less inclined to hear what witty lines the transgenic had to spit out today, what with the news Max had left up to Logan to figure out.

She hadn't even had the decency to tell him the truth. She'd just left the dots for him to connect. Somehow, her inconsideration to fill him in made the truth hurt that much more.

"I, uh, I got that computer hardware you wanted," Alec's voice interrupted Logan's wandering thoughts.

"Thanks," Logan managed to say.

"Yeah, no problem," Alec returned. After a pause, he tried to come clean to the guy and free himself from being the fall guy to their relationship that there was really no use in denying any more. "Listen, um, this thing with Max and I-"

"Yeah, she told me," Logan interrupted. "If you're here to apologize, or give me some kind of explanation about how it happened, I'm not real interested." With that, the man dramatically cracked one of the logs he was placing onto the fire, the sharp sound somehow serving to send the point home.

"No, no, no," Alec tried to correct him. "You got it all wrong, you see-"

"Listen," Logan interrupted again. "We've been through some rough times, me and Max. But I never gave up on us. I always figured we'd get through it."

After a short pause, the man continued. "Now I guess, I don't know, I'm thinkin' maybe, I've been selfish. With everything that's goin' on in the world…" he trailed, letting out a sigh before he found his voice again. "Maybe she should be with someone… like her."

Alec was struck with the two little words that the man had chosen. It shouldn't have mattered to Alec, especially since he'd come with the intention of leaving only once the man understood that there was nothing going on between Max and Alec.

But something in how judgmental and condescending the words sounded as they flew right out of the man's mouth hit Alec with their ignorance. Alec felt defensive immediately, not only for himself, but for Max, the woman that this guy supposedly loved.

"You say that like she's beneath you," Alec couldn't help saying. Not really his first choice of words, but the first ones that came to him.

"That's the funny part," the man went on, not picking up on the defensive tone Alec had used. "It never mattered to me, what she was… where she was from."

Alec felt his eyes widen as their conversation went on. Not that it was much of a conversation. Alec was doing far more listening than anything else. But he didn't like what he was hearing. And he felt like it was high time he said a few words of his own.

But first, Logan said a few final words before he was satisfied, having spoken his mind. "Not to me," the man finished in an almost whisper while Alec's thoughts wandered.

"You think you know her so well," Alec couldn't help commenting in disbelief, shaking his head that was showing near pity for the man.

"I know everything about Max," Logan dismissed the comment in a matter-of-fact fashion. "And I still love her."

Alec felt his jaw slacken at the man's confident words. Logan was bordering on obsession with Max. He'd made it a point to study the woman and her background like a man possessed. And he apparently somehow felt a sense of nobility, in still finding it in his heart to love the woman, despite… 'what she is'. The man had left no room for questioning, the way he'd stated it so matter-of-factly.

Part of Alec wanted to end it right there, just walk away. But he couldn't let the man go on thinking he had it all figured out like this. "You know, there's a lot of things you don't know about Max," Alec told the man. He couldn't keep the smirk from spreading across his face. It was the only thing keeping him from downright scowling at the guy. And for whatever reason that Alec didn't think he'd ever understand, Max was still head over heels for him. So Alec was careful to hold his tongue down to that simple statement.

Logan didn't appreciate his knowledge of Max being questioned like that. It was like an unspoken challenge, calling for an answer. There was nothing that Logan didn't know about Max. This he was positive of. "You think I don't already know?" Logan asked Alec, letting on his surprise. "You don't give me any credit, do you?"

Before Alec could respond, Logan continued. "I know all of it, Alec. Even _your_ secrets."

Alec's eyes flashed into Logan's dangerously at this statement. But Alec managed to hold his tongue until Logan would reveal what he meant by the comment.

"Rachel Berrisford. Your first deep-cover mission."

"Keep your mouth shut, Logan," Alec demanded, his voice calm but determined. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I read the file," Logan went on. "Manticore's finest, you were. Piano teacher meant to weasel his way into the heart of a young and innocent girl."

"Shut up," Alec spat at the man.

"You manipulated her so you could do the job easier," Logan went on. "Of course, the free dinner must have been a nice perk, too."

"You don't know a damn thing about what you're talking about," Alec insisted, the calmness in his voice slipping as he fought to control himself.

"She fell for you, the poor fool. I really feel sorry for her. What was it, two years? That she spent in a coma? Before her fragile body finally couldn't take it any more?"

Alec couldn't contain his anger any longer, and with the last taunting, he grabbed the man by the throat and lifted his feeble body up off the ground. Metal legs or not, Logan was still nothing in comparison to a genetically engineered killing machine.

"See?" Logan choked out, as if the action only proved his point.

Alec took one more moment to glare into the man's piercing eyes before releasing his grip, leaving Logan to fall onto the floor.

Logan coughed a few times before saying more. "It's fine though, Alec, really. Because see, I _do _understand. You were just doing your job, what you were trained to do. I really am sorry that you had to go through with that. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been."

_Pft. Yeah,_ Alec thought to himself with a scowl that wouldn't leave his face just yet. _I'm sure sorrow is what you were feeling when you went behind my back to dig into my background files that have _nothing _to do with you._

Alec tried to stay calm while his mind raced, considering what to say to the man. It didn't seem that Logan was a guy who listened well.

Luckily, Alec didn't have to, as Logan continued. "But Max… she left before they could use her for any of their twisted missions. They never got to dirty her hands with the spilled blood of the innocent."

Alec shook his head at the ignorant man who still had the nerve to think he somehow knew what they'd gone through from some computer file that he'd hacked into, just as he'd hacked his way into Max's life. Alec found himself disgusted with him.

"You don't know anything about us," Alec spat out, his voice wavering. "…the things we had to do…" he trailed as he tried to swallow the lump forming uncomfortably in his throat. Alec felt like a knife was ripping into his chest with every nightmarish memory. The cocky smart-ass front that he normally held so effortlessly around Logan was more difficult to maintain as he felt the pain create tiny fractures in his mask.

"You have no idea what I went through, with Rachel," Alec continued absently, his eyes burning as he relived the horrors of his past. "…what Max went through with Ben… You just don't get it. And you never will. There's not a computer file on this Earth that you can hack into to make you understand."

Logan found his confidence fading as his focus fell onto one thing in particular that Alec had spoken in his pained ramblings. "Wait," he said, his voice no longer sounding so certain. "What did you just say? About Max and Ben?"

Logan watched as Alec's eyes widened as though he'd just made some sort of mistake in letting the words slip. "I… nothing," Alec said quickly. "We both had to say our goodbyes. That's all."

"Wait," Logan wouldn't accept the brushed-off answer. "What made you even think to compare the two situations? They're completely different. You murdered Rachel. Max stopped Ben from killing."

"Exactly," Alec agreed, surprised with Logan's take on things. "So you know, then. About Ben," he concluded. Alec couldn't help finding surprise in the realization. The way Logan spoke about morals and ethics all the time, his self-righteous ramblings… Alec didn't think Logan would be able to handle the truth. And Alec was highly skilled at reading people.

_Logan must put a blind eye to everything Max_, Alec decided. It made sense to him, that Logan would ignore all of his self-proclaimed rules when it came to Max. Alec still recalled one of the first times he'd pointed out Logan's blindness to Max.

"It's just 'cuz she's hot, you know," Alec said with a smirk.

"_What is?" Logan asked without looking at the transgenic._

"_Everything," Alec returned. "Everything she gets away with. I mean, do you honestly think we'd be down here in this moldy dump looking for God knows what if she were ugly?"_

"_We're down here to give Max a hand," Logan dismissed the transgenic's take on the situation._

_Alec couldn't help laughing. "You are so whipped."_

But as Alec's eyes narrowed at the man in front of him today, he realized it was much more than 'whipped'. The guy was completely obsessed with Max.

As Alec came to his own conclusions, Logan was also losing himself in thought. His mind raced against his will, straining to remember the details to the killing epidemic from so long ago. Manticore, Lydecker, to be specific, had caught up with Max's murderous brother. Manticore had taken Ben away. That was how it went down…

Wasn't it?

"Max…" Logan stopped before he'd even begun to tell the story. That was when he realized. A panic ran through him, and he cursed himself inwardly for not noticing before. He'd just assumed. God, he'd just assumed.

But now that it was thrust in front of his face like this…

He didn't know for certain what had happened that night. He'd had nothing to base his conclusions upon. Just…

One minute, Ben was free and on a killing spree. Max went to stop him, while Manticore was closing in on the clues to finding him, as well.

The next minute, Ben's murders had stopped. And Max was back.

Logan hadn't really considered what actually happened, in explicit detail. He hadn't seen the need to. But Alec was making him think differently. Was there something he was missing? It was like the situation had somehow been much more complicated than that, the way Alec was looking while he considered it.

Then another thought occurred to Logan, sending another wave of panic through him. How would Alec know what had happened that day? He was no more there than Logan had been.

Which only could mean…

Max had told Alec something about that day. Something that she'd never mentioned to Logan, something he never would have guessed or even thought to guess on his own, as he was doing right now, thanks to Alec's mysterious behavior and sudden attempt to brush the slip under the rug.

But Logan was too meticulous to let it go. Alec had sparked something in Logan's mind that had to be answered.

"Max has said goodbyes before," Logan said, finding his voice again. "What made you bring up Ben? Zack was harder on her. Why'd you say Ben?"

Alec's eyes twitched at the question. Hazel eyes poured into blue, and he watched the fear, the possibilities, the paranoia race within Logan's stare. _Oh, my God, _he thought to himself with a swallow. The man didn't know, after all. _He really has no idea._

Alec tried to keep Max's secret to himself, and shrugged nonchalantly. "Ben was the first sibling that came to mind. Come on, Logan, you know me. I don't really care about all that family stuff."

"But you never even knew Ben. Whereas you actually met Zack. Why would you randomly bring up that name?" Logan asked, clearly still unconvinced. "Don't lie to me, Alec. What do you know that I don't?"

Alec held his usual confident grin as he continued to try and steer away from the subject. "There's a lot I know that you don't, Logan," he said with a sarcastic smirk, "but I really don't see where you're going with this. Of course Max and I are similar. We've both had people we love taken away from us. Nothing to go _psycho_-analysis on."

Logan let out a heavy sigh. _Fine. _Alec wasn't going to help him on this one. Logan wanted to just agree with Alec, shrug it off as a mere coincidence.

But he couldn't. Now there was a feeling creeping up his spine that wouldn't shake, telling him that Alec had meant far more than he was letting on in comparing the two situations. "You murdered Rachel…" Logan repeated.

"Thanks again for the reminder," Alec interjected dryly.

Logan continued as though he hadn't spoken, "And you think that Max went through the same thing with Ben."

Logan's eyes lit up with horror as a thought came to him. He didn't want to say it out loud, give it any real meaning. But as sick as it made him feel, it was plausible. God, it was plausible!

"Max… murdered Ben," Logan let out slowly.

* * *

**a/n: **Okay, so here's the challenge

Alec finds out about Max telling Logan they were together and when he goes to talk to Logan, he sort of, accidentally, tells him about Max killing Ben. Logan is completely disgusted, all the fears and doubts he had about Max comes forward and he panics and tells Max he knows that she and Alec are not together but he can never be with her now that he knows what she did to her brother. Max does not take this well…. MA


	2. Chapter 2: Understanding

**a/n**: You might be wondering why I waited so long to post this when I said it was done already... what can I say, I suck! ha, no to tell the truth, I did that silly thing of looking at it again and saw a few things I wanted to change, and of course when I tried to change it, it only brought on a need for _more _changes, and... yeah, you get the point!  
And I didn't want to post the 2nd chapter until the epilogue was done.

So my apologies for the wait; hope it's worth it...

* * *

**Chapter 2: Understanding**

Logan felt like there was a chokehold on his lungs as he struggled to breathe with the realization. "Max murdered Ben," Logan repeated, his voice strangled, showing just how disgusted he was feeling at the thought.

Alec rubbed his hands over his face once before quickly looking to Logan with an exasperated stare. He had really stuck his foot in it now. He had to make Logan understand. "Look, Logan, you got it all wrong. It wasn't that simple."

Logan cut him off angrily. "No, no, Alec. You see, it's a pretty simple equation when you lay it out. Someone died… And Max is the killer. Where's the complication in understanding that? Tell me, what am I missing?"

"Manticore was closing in, and you don't know what they do-"

"No!" Logan interrupted the transgenic. "I'm not going to stand here and listen to _your _explanation." With that, he grabbed his coat and threw it on aggressively.

Alec shook his head once. "Logan, what are you doing? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see Max," Logan told him curtly.

Alec moved quickly, purposely standing within Logan's path to leave- blocking it. "Logan, I really don't think that's such a good idea."

"Listen," Logan spat forcefully, not bothering to keep the glare to himself, "Max is with me. And you're not gonna stop me from seeing her."

Alec folded his arms at this comment and didn't move. "No, Logan. Like Max told you, we're together now. You need to give her some space, leave her alone."

Logan stared for a minute into the determined set of hazel eyes. "No, I had it all wrong, didn't I? Max lied to me. Maybe it isn't the first time. And that's what I need to go find out."

"You need to quit deluding yourself, Logan. Max moved on, with _me_," Alec said possessively.

"No, _you _need to quit playing this game. Max doesn't want you!" Logan spat at him. "You think I haven't noticed? The stares you send her way. How you're always… hanging around? But none of it is ever returned, is it?"

Alec had to bite his tongue to keep from speaking. Logan really knew where to hit him so it hurt the most. The words stung with their truth.

"Because Max is still in love with me. And you're just the guy that's standing in the way. Now move. I need to talk to Max."

Alec was frozen in place with disbelief, struggling to keep up the arrogant façade Logan had somehow so easily cracked.

"If you don't move right now, I'm going to call the police to tell them I found one of those… freaks."

Alec's eyes narrowed at the man. "You wouldn't," he said in disbelief.

"Do you really want to find out?" Logan challenged the transgenic.

Alec found himself near to his breaking point. He stepped aside slowly, realizing that it was the right thing to do. Logan was right, as twisted and wrong as it all was.

To think that even Logan had noticed.

But Max…

She never would, would she?

The world really was a cruel place. Twice now, he'd fallen only to have his heart ripped to shreds. And worse, it was all being used against him. His love for Rachel, used only as bait to rile him into becoming the animal that was pacing quietly at his core.

His love for Max…

Yeah, damnit. As much as it hurt, it was true. He did love Max.

She'd forgiven him so many times for so many screw-ups.

Alec's ears picked up on the sound of the door closing, the knowledge that Logan had finally left and was now on his way to see her.

Alec breathed a heavy sigh as realization hit him. He was alone again. And not just in the room.

Because as many times as she'd forgiven him before, this was something that he really didn't think Max would be able to let go of.

He'd just told the man that she loved her darkest, most guarded secret. He'd held her entire heart for all of a few short hours, before he'd unwillingly let it slip away to the self-righteous man that her heart was still vulnerable to, and maybe always would be.

As Alec stood in the quiet darkness, and his mind and heart finally came to a steady calm, despite the seriousness of the situation, he found that only one thought remained.

_What have I done?_

---------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of the door slamming told Max that Alec was back.

She cringed as she felt the vibe pouring into the room. It must have gone down just about as badly as it possibly could have. Logan probably knew the truth. And now Alec was going to let her have it about using him.

She swallowed to prepare herself for the tongue-lashing, before she came to a decision. She wasn't going to take it. She'd already apologized to him. And besides, if they both knew the truth now, what more was there to say?

Max turned slowly to face him and tell him to just let it go. "Listen, Alec, I…" But as her stare rose to meet a pair of blue eyes instead of hazel ones, the words died on her lips. "Logan," she said suddenly, almost gasping as her mind and heart raced. What was he doing there?

"Hey," Logan said to her. Normally, the greeting had a warm ringing to it, sending something to her heart to bring a light smile to her face. But she noticed how cold the word sounded today. _Okay, so he's pissed._

"Logan, listen, I can explain-" she started.

"Oh, that's what I'm looking for," Logan interrupted. "You'll never guess what I just heard!" After a pause to smile sarcastically at her, he continued. "Or maybe you will. I guess everyone knows. Except me, of course."

Max felt the guilt creep up her spine as she stared into his eyes. They held anger, of course. But it was the hurt that was killing her. She knew that she'd hurt him. He was the one person that she wanted most to save from hurting. But it seemed it was just as Renfro had told her. She was nothing but poison to everyone's lives.

"I wanted to tell you, I mean…" Max trailed as she realized she was lying to him. He already knew the truth; he may as well hear it from her. "This is just… really hard for me," she confessed to him, her eyes misting as she focused again on the pain.

"It shouldn't be that hard, Max. Let me in." His eyes were pleading to her. If he could touch her, she knew he would be reaching out to her arm right now.

"We aren't gonna keep catching these lucky breaks," she told him. "One of these days…" she trailed again, taking a pause to collect herself. "There's not always gonna be a miracle for us. And I can't risk it anymore. It's not fair-"

"Fair?" Logan spat at her. "You think you need to tell me about what's fair and what isn't? I know, Max. It's never been fair for us. Not one damn part of it. But that isn't why I'm still in this, because it's fair or easy. Real love never is."

Max hated his words as they hit her with their truth. _No, _she thought to herself as she tried to prevent herself from thinking about it too much. If she let him speak more, she might find herself convinced again that they could somehow make it. And that would only lead her to another hospital church, crying alone while his life was left up to… a miracle. And like she'd said, they were all out of those.

"Logan," she tried to protest his words.

But he continued anyway. "I know about you and Alec, okay? I just don't understand why you lied to me. To my face."

Finally, his emotionless façade slipped at these words. His own eyes started to mist over as he gave in for a moment to the pain he was feeling.

Max wanted to answer him, but the truth was, she didn't think he would understand. With Logan, it was always about doing the right thing. There were some rules that he didn't mind breaking. But she wasn't so sure this was one of them.

"Some choices aren't that simple, Logan…" she told him. "…good or bad. It was the lesser of two evils. Lie to you and keep you safe; or don't lie to you and watch you die… because of me." She felt a tear slide down her face at these last words, as she was unable to keep it all in any longer.

"Tell me, Max," Logan continued, hoping to god if there was one, that his fears would not be realized. "Is murder… _ever_… the lesser of two evils?"

Max's brown eyes widened at the sudden question. She was hit with more confusion. "I thought we were talking about Alec and me…"

"We are, Max. Alec, you, Manticore, murder…"

Max frowned. "Listen, Logan. If you're here to discuss my rotten childhood, you can save it. I'm really not in the mood for a therapy session right now."

Logan smiled that tight smile again. "Well, maybe therapy would do you some good. I mean, with all the hell you've been put through. You and your siblings, that is."

Max felt a chill run up her spine at the dangerous tone Logan was taking with her about her family. He knew that was a sensitive subject for her, and it worried her that he could bring it up so bluntly. "If you wanna fight, fight with _me_, not my family. They can't defend themselves to you here."

"Yeah, it would be… difficult… to defend yourself from the grave," Logan said ominously.

Max felt a glare creep up on her face. "I'll talk with you, about _me_ and _Alec_. But you can leave Tinga, Ben, Zack and everyone else out of it."

"I've had quite enough of Alec," Logan replied dismissively. "But it's interesting that you should mention your brother Ben. This isn't the first time today that your late brother has crossed my mind."

Max's brown eyes shuttered once as she tried to keep a straight face, which was difficult, considering the implications of what Logan was telling her. As she examined his eyes, she was met with a cold seriousness that reminded her of the frosty eyes shown to the world through Streaming Freedom video bulletins. She was looking into the judgmental face of Eyes Only, not Logan Cale. His stare silently marked her a killer.

Her blood ran cold with realization. _Oh my God… He knows… _Why else would he bring up murders and Ben together, so suddenly? Why else would he be standing there looking at her like that? She felt like she'd been hit in the stomach with a two-by-four. The shock that struck her with the conclusion that Logan somehow knew about Ben's tragic fate was numbing. Max struggled to form a coherent sentence. "I told you I didn't wanna talk about my family. What does Ben have to do with anything? …That was a long time ago, Logan."

"I know that," Logan replied. "Just answer the question, Max. It's not complicated. There're only two variables. Is murder ever the lesser of two evils?"

Max's mind raced as she felt every pain of Ben's death come back to her. Logan didn't have to tell her to feel guilty about it. He didn't have to remind her of how disgusted she was with herself over that day.

But he was. That was what struck Max the most. Logan was pushing thoughts of Ben to the surface. Why?

She couldn't bring herself to ask him out loud. She was too afraid of the answer that she already knew but wouldn't admit to knowing.

"You can't compare some kinds of evil," Max finally offered.

"That's the thing about humans," Logan told her. "We have this amazing free-will. Sometimes it's hard, but we get to make a choice. Between one over the other. And I know one that always wins in my book."

"Well, too bad I didn't grow up on the Book of Logan," Max spat at him, her tone dripping with icy sarcasm, an instinctive defense mechanism to his wordless accusation. "If you came here to give me a lecture, you can forget it. I'm not gonna talk about this with you anymore."

"I'm not asking you just to 'talk' about this, Max," Logan told her. "I don't think you understand what's going on here. See, I'm giving you a chance. To explain it to me. Because right now, I don't understand. No matter how many ways I look at it, it's just all wrong to me, Max. It's all wrong."

Max did understand the gravity of the situation. She wasn't ready to discuss it with him. She didn't know if she ever would be. But it didn't matter, apparently, whether or not she was ready. Because he was here now, and like it or not, he was giving her an unspoken ultimatum. If she let him walk out that door this time without giving him an answer, there wouldn't be any turning back. It would be for good.

Max felt her eyes burning at the memories, the choices, the pain. All of it that he was making her face right then. "I didn't have a choice, Logan. I didn't have free will, one over the other. I did what I had to do."

Logan's eyes widened, threatening to spill over at her words. "You did… you did what you had to do…" he repeated in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She knew… she was fully aware of her decision. And she held no remorse.

"Would you do it again?" he blurted to her.

Max closed her eyes at the question, allowing the tears to fall. _I can't believe he's asking me this_.

Actually, she could. She expected nothing less from the man. In a way, it was why she'd kept it from him. Part of her knew that he would never be able to understand. And that hurt almost as much as knowing that she could find it in herself to not only understand, but accept and stand by her decision, as much pain as it brought to her.

"Yeah," she answered finally, in barely a whisper. "I would."

Max could only watch as the man she loved shook in pain in front of her. She couldn't reach out to comfort or wipe the tears that were flowing from his eyes. She had to keep her distance, thanks to the virus pumping through her veins.

The sight brought even more pain to her, as she realized it was all her doing.

"I…" Logan finally found his voice again. "How did you do it? You said you can't use guns, so what… any other method is okay with you?"

"How can you say that to me?" Max asked. "No, you know me. How could that _ever_… be 'okay'?"

"I know you?" Logan asked. "I'm not so sure anymore, Max."

If he was trying to somehow make her feel worse about the horrible situation, he'd succeeded.

"Logan?" she asked, searching for a sign of hope. "You don't mean that," she insisted. "I know you don't mean that."

"Just… come on, help me get the whole picture here. You murdered Ben. Fine. Manticore was closing in so you murdered him. How'd you do it?"

Max swallowed, unable to deny him the whole truth any longer. "I snapped his neck. Like a twig," she added, clearly disgusted herself.

Logan nodded, his eyes showing a new light, as if a veil had just been lifted. "Well now I know," he managed to say.

"Know what?"

"I know you," he explained. "But I don't understand you. I don't know if I ever will." With that, he turned to leave.

"Logan!" Max called to him.

He turned around slowly, staring at her as though she was nothing but a stranger to him. "We can't be together, Max. You were right. But it's not because it's too hard."

Max opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. All that was left were the tears streaming from her eyes as she took in what he was saying, what had just happened.

"How could I possibly love someone I don't understand?" he said to her, his voice high-pitched and strained as he let his own tears fall to the ground.

Max stared at him in complete shock. This had to be a nightmare. It couldn't be real! He'd just…

He'd just told her that he didn't love her. That he was… _incapable_ of loving her.

Max stood still, silently frozen by his words and the agony that they had given her.

Logan was the one to break the deafening silence. "I'm sorry, Max," he told her finally. "I can't do this anymore."

Max felt herself slump to the floor once the door was closed shut. The lonely silence that had abruptly fallen over the room as she was left to the darkness was interrupted only by her cries. She hugged her knees and buried her head against them as much as she could, shaking with every sob.

--------------------------------------

The feeling of a warm touch on her shoulder brought Max's thoughts out of her misery for a moment. Her damp eyes lifted to meet his hazel ones. Each set held their own pains that they would never be able to escape from.

Seeing who it was offering her comfort made reality came crashing back, and Max lifted herself up immediately, withdrawing herself from his touch. She took a moment to brush away the tears that had stained her face.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I figured you could use a friend," he offered with an encouraging smile. The grin wasn't as steady as his normally were. He couldn't hide the pain that he'd already experienced, that he knew was still coming. So his lips, even as they were tugged into a tiny smile, quivered slightly as he waited for her reaction.

Max almost laughed. "A friend? Yeah, I guess I could." Her eyes fell to the floor that she'd just been laying on as she continued. "Too bad all I have is you."

"Max," Alec began, reaching his hand out to her shoulder.

But Max ripped herself away. "Don't touch me!" she yelled at him.

Alec allowed the unnatural grin to fade from his face. In its place was a tight frown. He'd already played Logan's bitch today. And even though _Logan _was the asshole that had taken Max's precious heart and broken it, left her there to her misery, Max was still going to do the usual and blame Alec.

_Well, it is my fault_, a self-deprecating thought rang out in his mind.

Alec tried to shake it away. The truth in it was undeniable, but Max needed him to be strong now. She was broken, and she wouldn't be herself again until she let it all out.

"All right, Max," Alec said finally. "You got me. I screwed up."

"Again!" Max interrupted with a glare.

"You gonna tell me why you're really upset?" Alec asked her.

"Why should I?" Max challenged him. "So you can go and run that damn mouth of yours to every single person in Seattle?"

"I didn't tell _anybody_," Alec defended himself.

"Anybody?" Max asked him. "Don't lie to me, Alec. Today is really not the day for that. And even though you apparently have nothing wrong with living with regret, _I _do. So I'm gonna try and keep it together before I do something horrible I'll have to live with."

"If you would just shut your mouth for 5 seconds, I could tell you what happened!"

Max shrugged as though she couldn't care less. "Now why would I wanna do a thing like that when I already know what happened?"

"Max, I'm sorry," Alec began with a swallow.

"Don't be," Max cut him off. "It's not like I didn't expect it, coming from you."

"Max," Alec protested, but she continued.

Her eyes fell to the floor again as she went on, "What hurts the most is that I was just starting to trust you." She paused to bring her stare into his eyes again. "Thanks for the reminder."

"Reminder?" Alec asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Max reiterated her words, "I almost forgot that you're nothing but a screw-up."

Alec wasn't going to let her off that easily. She was doing the usual, blaming him so she could walk away without looking back until her real troubles built up to the point where she would break. You can't ignore real pain like that. It only mounts to become something unbearable. Alec loved her too much to watch her do that to herself again. No, she was going to deal with this even if she didn't want to. Because she _needed _to.

"So that's what hurts the most," Alec said with a half-interested nod. "Me?"

Max glared at him for not taking her seriously. "Are you blind, deaf, _and _stupid?" she asked.

Alec pulled a sarcastic smirk onto his face as he continued. "So you're telling me that after being _dumped_ by the guy who's made you his life for two years-"

"Shut up!" Max interjected.

"It's _me?_" Alec finished. "How did I manage that one?" he asked her sarcastically.

Alec didn't realize she'd hit him until he found his head turned to face the wall, a dull and steady throbbing coming from his reddened cheek.

"Listen to me, you asshole," Max bit out, building a fury, "None of this would have happened if you weren't such a damn fool!"

"Or maybe," Alec argued, despite her stinging slap, "If ol' Wheels was a bit more understanding. That might have helped, too, right?"

Max felt the air catch in her throat at Alec's intuitive remark. Somehow, he just knew. He knew that Logan wasn't able to handle the truth of what Max was, the things she was capable of. And Alec knew that that same truth had just ended their relationship. _Well, I knew, too_, Max reminded herself, trying to give the guy less credit.

But that only made her feel worse. She had known, deep down in a forgotten corner of her mind she so casually chose to ignore. She'd always known. Before he even found out, she knew that Logan wouldn't be able to handle it. Because he could never understand.

Max didn't want to accept that Alec knew and understood her so well without even trying. Not especially when he'd just made her life worse yet again. He was quickly riling her into fighting mode.

"He's not in a wheelchair anymore," Max finally found her voice again. "So you can quit insulting him like that."

"Oh, you're gonna defend him now?" Alec said with a laugh. "That's great. The guy breaks your heart and you defend-"

"I am _not _defending him!" Max insisted. "Just pointing out what an _idiot _you are."

"That's just it, Max," Alec continued. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about _him_ than telling me what an idiot I am?"

"You are such an asshole!" Max's hand formed into a fist as he continued to ignite a fury within her. It was like angering Max was one of the talents Manticore had spliced into his DNA.

"I already know I'm an idiot, Max," Alec continued, "…an asshole," he accepted dryly. "I can't say that I liked Logan much to begin with, but I didn't realize before today what an ignorant bastard he-"

Max threw her fist at him, punching him right in the jaw before he could say anything more. "Shut up!" she yelled at him before pounding her fist into his chest, "You stupid, stubborn, cocky, self-serving, big-mouthed, empty-headed ass!" Every word came with another blow.

Alec noticed that every succeeding hit to his chest had less force behind it than the one before.

With the last punch to his chest, Max flew her arms down in defeat and started to cry again. She was physically drained and emotionally overflowing, and there was nothing she could do to stop it all from bursting out of her. She cried, she sobbed, and she shook with a sense of loss and worthlessness as the floodgates were ruthlessly opened.

Max made no protest this time as Alec reached his arms around her. She allowed her head to fall onto the chest that she'd been pounding all her frustrations into. Tears poured out of her until there was nothing left, and all the while Alec offered her what little comfort he could to break the fall she took from the pedestal Logan had held her on for so long.

Max absently felt Alec's hand cradle her face as his thumb brushed softly against her cheek in an effort to gently wipe away the tears that were staining her gorgeous face.

"Max," his deep voice finally called for her attention.

She looked up at him, really focusing on him for the first time since he'd entered the room. She lost herself, transfixed for a moment in his gaze.

Max suddenly cleared her throat, trying to find her voice again. A question came to her, and she felt a strange urgency to express it aloud. "He told me that you can't love someone you don't understand. Is that true?"

The question came out in a voice so soft, so open and innocent, that Alec found he could not dodge it or brush it off. He had to answer.

Alec thought about it seriously for a minute. The question brought more pain to him than perhaps she realized. Rachel had loved him, or at least that was what she'd told him. But she didn't really know him, so she couldn't possibly have understood him. In fact, when he'd tried to show her who he really was, to help her understand, she had run. It had all been clear in that moment, standing in the Berrisford mansion. Rachel wasn't capable of loving him.

"You can't love a person completely until you understand them completely," Alec finally offered.

----------------------------------------------------

Logan held onto the glass again, standing in a mess of papers that used to be carefully organized together, tucked away in a forgotten part of his file-cabinet.

He was completely exhausted. He hadn't gotten much sleep, and the day's events had taken a severe toll on his body, mind, heart, and quite possibly, sanity.

The mess of clippings and research scattered at his feet were meaningless to him; at least now, they were.

As soon as he'd left Max, his heart had tightened into a knot, completely wrenched at her admission. He'd hurried home to pour into his files. He had been determined to find something to explain it all away, some minor detail to the horrible episode that would explain Max's actions, since she couldn't.

_I did what I had to do._

Her words had to mean something. He must have missed some aspect that had trapped her. Self-defense, that must have been it. She was cornered, that was the explanation. She regretted it, of course. She was only stony in her defense because of the shame; it was more defense, she'd blocked out the responsibility to deal with the trauma, common in any similar tragedy.

But as he ripped through his files, he discovered it was happening to him. He'd become like an animal, just as he now knew Max was. He'd torn through every little piece of information, every single detail; raged as he went on a mad search for a reason to believe all of the excuses filling his mind; desperate for something to make it all okay.

And like any cornered animal, he'd gone into a fury when he realized.

It wasn't there. It just wasn't there.

Max had murdered her own brother with a free hand. No one had forced her. It wasn't self-defense. It was a choice.

She'd made a choice of her own free will to take life.

When Logan had finally accepted that there was no way he could skew the facts, he'd thrown the papers, ripping them so that they danced across the air around him until they'd fallen lightly to the floor.

The mess at his feet didn't matter. Nothing really mattered. His life for the last two years was nothing but a lie.

Which left him where he was right now, his blue eyes dully peering into the glass in his hand.

The smell of the liquor that had been swirling in it the night before still lingered as his nostril drew near the rim.

_The night before… when I thought that Max being with Alec was as bad as it could get_, he thought to himself miserably.

He looked to the bottle as though it were his salvation. It still held a few glassfuls of the amber liquid.

_Not for long, _he decided, as he filled the glass in a careless, messy fashion, causing some of the liquid to spill over the top.

But he didn't care. For once, he was the guy that couldn't care less.

He tried to drink away his misery for a while. Until he tipped the bottle to his glass only to find that there was no more alcohol to pour out.

_It's empty_, he realized before noting poetically how similar his life was to the glass in front of him. Used until it was worthless, left on the counter to be forgotten, and most importantly… empty.

Logan chucked it at his wall, only to watch it smash into a dozen broken pieces, all carefully taking their place on the cold floor.

He'd blocked out all other sounds and senses other than the pain he was feeling in his heart, and so he didn't hear his own cries as he sobbed again at his circumstance.

_How could she do it? _he thought to himself. _When did it happen? _he wondered in his misery. _Or was it always there, from the beginning? And I just never saw it?_

Max Guevara. The mysterious bike-messenger with an eye for art depicting the Egyptian goddess Bast. One of the 12 escapees from the Gillette, Wyoming facility, designed as one of the soldiers for Project Manticore. The beautiful woman with an attitude that was yet unchallenged, who didn't like rules very much and had a 'thing with guns'.

He never would have known, never would have guessed. That beneath her beautiful smile, lay such a cold and heartless… killer.

She was a murderer. She'd killed her own brother. _And she'd do it again_, he thought, still shocked by the dark depths that he'd been blind to for so long of the woman that he'd thought he loved.

His heart ached to be with her again. When she'd first left his life, he'd wanted death more than a life without her.

But the woman he loved never even existed.

The monstrous deed of taking life with your own hands… it wasn't something he could just accept and move on from. Nothing would ever be the same with Max.

Such a merciless act was entirely…

Unforgivable.

* * *

**a/n:** _phew! _Feels so good to get that off my chest! ha! 

any departing thoughts??

oh, and duh! there's an epilogue around the corner, if I've still got your interest...


	3. Epilogue: As the Lightning Fades

**Epilogue: As the Lightning Fades **

"I'm sorry," Alec blurted suddenly to Max.

Max rolled her eyes at him. "For what?" she dared to ask. It had been three days since her emotional breakdown. Three days since her secret was exposed.

Three days since the world as she knew it had been torn apart.

She hadn't spoken to Logan since the confrontation. He hadn't called, and she was no longer holding out for a sudden acceptance of who she was. Logan wasn't the man to hold her heart any longer; he didn't even want to be. And there was nothing she could do about it.

As painful as that had been for her to accept, Max had recently been discovering that a weight had been lifted. The truth was known now, and she had nothing to hide anymore.

Time heals all wounds. At least, that's how the saying goes. But Max didn't feel that way. No amount of time could make everything go back to normal, could erase the horrible memories that would forever haunt her of the most difficult decision that she shouldn't have had to make.

The only thing time had offered Max was a clear head, which was little better than nothing. She still had all the pain to go back to, whenever her carefully fortified walls would come crashing down again.

Max hadn't mentioned the incident in the three days she'd spent wandering around Terminal City as though in a fog, absently going about her days as an empty shell of her former self, while ignoring the turmoil going on in her mind.

Alec hadn't mentioned it either, not since it had actually happened, when he'd entered the very room they were standing in, only to find Max crying alone on the floor. The exchange played itself on repeat in his mind like a recurring dream he couldn't wake from, and it had been killing him to keep it bottled up like that. And if it all was bothering him so much, he couldn't even imagine what Max must have been going through.

As Alec thought about her circumstance more, though, he found himself reconsidering. He did know what Max was going through. He knew firsthand what it felt like to live with regret, the ignorant bliss that came with ignoring it all.

But Max seemed to be doing more than just ignoring it all. Alec wondered if she was blocking out the pain entirely, including the incident itself. Seeing Max so blatantly shutting out the pain wrenched at Alec's heart.

He'd been strong for her that night. He'd done what he could to help her let some of it out and deal with all her pain. But the way she was now going about her days, as though it never happened…

And even if Max had somehow managed to completely separate herself from the pain of losing the man she loved in such a terrible way, Alec still had his own demons to face. He couldn't shake the guilt of being the one to give away her deepest secret. Maybe Max had found the strength to move on in such a short amount of time, and if that was true, Alec was happy for her. But that didn't mean that he was ready to forgive himself for what he'd done.

Max had asked him why he was sorry. As Alec considered her question, he found himself overwhelmed with all of the actions he had to apologize for. Just saying those two little words wouldn't make everything better. 'I'm sorry' wouldn't change the fact that his actions had brought pain to her once again. The phrase wouldn't erase what he'd already apologized for.

The virus was still pumping freely through Max's veins. His first real apology hadn't fixed anything.

All of his mistakes that resulted in painful consequences that Max was still bearing the burden of were amounting in his mind with his most recent mistake. Alec found that he wasn't sure where to begin in order to express how truly sorry he was and why.

But that didn't stop him from trying. "I wasn't paying attention and it just slipped out. You know that I would never intentionally betray you like that-" Alec began.

"It's okay," Max told him abruptly, hoping to keep her wounds carefully shut.

"I keep going over it all in my head," he admitted to her, continuing despite Max's efforts to close the door on the subject.

Max characteristically steered away from the deep and personal tone of his conversation by brushing off the seriousness with a casual remark. "Come on, Alec. It's nothing to hold over your head. I mean, I already knew you're a complete idiot," she said dramatically, her voice light with a hint of teasing.

Alec could do nothing but take her hostility. She was right. Once again, he'd screwed up. It seemed like he could never catch a break. He'd been going about the past couple of days thinking that she had mentally blocked the whole thing, but it seemed she was coping better than he thought. Not only was she still fully aware of what had happened, but she had accepted that once again, it was all Alec's fault.

"Alec," Max said softly, noticing his lack of a smart reply. "What's with you today?"

Alec shrugged. "I don't know, Max. I just…" he trailed as his guilt caught up with him. He tried once more to explain, "It never would have slipped, but Logan told me something that I wasn't expecting. He knew about Rachel. He knows… everything. And I was just trying to get him to see-"

"Alec," Max interrupted. "I meant what I said. It's okay, really." As she let the words escape her lips, she realized how true they were. Although her mind was full of many horrors that she would never be able to escape from, Max couldn't deny the feeling that was strong enough for her to say it and mean it.

Her relationship with Logan had been hurting her in more ways than just knowing about the virus and its threat. He had been her safe place, where she could escape from it all and feel 'normal' and secure.

But Max was realizing more and more that she didn't need a false sense of security; she had found a safe haven without lying to herself and pretending to be someone she wasn't.

And as alone and wrong as Logan had made her feel the last time she'd seen him- when she'd taken to the floor, completely broken, her heart shattered- she knew it wasn't true.

_It's okay_, she repeated in her mind, this time believing the words with all her heart. She wasn't alone. And she wasn't wrong.

And neither was Alec. As annoying as he'd been when Max first met him, she knew that he wasn't the horrible person she'd taken him for at that time.

Max hadn't had the moment before now to consider what the situation had done to Alec. He clearly felt guilty for everything he'd done.

_Everything he's done_… Max was overwhelmed as she considered all of the ways that Alec had affected her life.

"_You can't love a person completely until you understand them completely_," his honest words had told her only a few days ago.

As Max reconsidered them, she found some closure, at least in her mind, from her former love. Logan would probably never admit it, but he agreed with Alec, at least on one thing. Logan had told her that he was incapable of loving her.

At the time, she'd taken it to mean it was something wrong with her; something undesirable within her, the darkness that she was surrounded in. But as she thought about Alec's words, she realized that the reason didn't lay within her alone. Logan didn't understand her, and he never would, which meant he would never be able to truly love her.

As Max thought about Alec, she was brought back to the present situation, which included staring into a guilt-ridden Alec. _He's blaming himself for all of this_.

Max surprised Alec with her next comment. "You understand me," she accepted, her way of expressing that she forgave him and wasn't going to hold it over his head later. "…And well… I understand you, too," she finished.

Alec felt a rush of relief come over him as he took in her words. It seemed something good had managed to come out, in spite of everything.

Amazing, how four little words could send Alec's heart soaring. "You understand me?" he asked her in a teasing voice.

Max rolled her eyes out of habit, but a thin smile came across her face. It was so typically Alec to joke around just when things were getting too revealing.

Max appreciated his casual approach and subtle easing of the tension that the personal topic might otherwise bring.

It was silent appreciation, of course. His ego didn't need any encouraging.

"You know, when you're not being an idiot," Max continued. "Which we both know isn't that often."

Alec nodded as though he accepted. "So you chose an idiot to be your second in command," he said finally. "…I wonder what that makes you?"

Max narrowed her eyes at him, about to defend herself, when Mole burst in the room, interrupting their conversation.

Both X5s stared at him for a moment, shocked by the sudden intrusion. Not that the scaly transgenic had the best of manners, but he usually at least knocked. It made Max think something must have been urgent.

"Heard somethin' on the radio," Mole said gruffly, not bothering to remove the cigar hanging out of his mouth to talk, or to greet them, for that matter. At least he didn't beat around the bush. "There's a transgenic being chased by the police around 3rd and Euclid."

"Well, get a team!" Max ordered immediately.

"What do you think I'm doin' here?" Mole asked with irritation. "You sent most of our best guys on that supply raid in Sector 7."

"They're still not back yet?" Max asked.

"Hey, sweetheart, don't look at me. I told you that was gonna take longer."

Max rolled her eyes and let out a short sigh of frustration. "Fine. Can you watch base for about a half hour?"

Mole blinked in disbelief. "You're asking me if I'm can handle the place for thirty minutes? You're joking, right?"

Alec almost snorted at Mole's usual self-confidence. His lizard pride was far too easily bruised. He certainly knew how to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Even when no insult was intended, he felt the need to defend his capabilities, even of something as simple as watching Terminal City for a few minutes. "Yeah, Max, didn't you know?" Alec mocked his lizard friend. "You don't need to question Mole's babysitting skills. That goes without saying, right buddy?" Alec finished with a hard nudge to the scaly transgenic's shoulder.

Mole eyed the X5 with a glare, his mouth pulled in a slight snarl. "Shut the hell up, Princess."

"He's so good with kids!" Alec continued with a light laugh.

"Why you-"

"Well, I guess that settles it," Max interrupted their would-be insult war before it got too far. Now wasn't the time to let their ridiculous brotherly taunting get in the way of more pressing matters. A transgenic was being hunted, and whoever it was, they needed help.

With most of her usual soldiers out on the raid, Max didn't have much of a choice. "You're in charge until I get back," Max said decisively to Mole.

She then turned to Alec, "Looks like we're gonna have to take care of this ourselves. I'm gonna get whoever I can find. We gotta move fast. You coming?"

"Right behind you," Alec answered simply before rushing to follow Max toward the door.

Max felt a smile come across her face at the words. Alec was right behind her to watch her back. _Just like always_.

* * *

**a/n**: thanks for reading! 


End file.
